Marked for Marco Melchionda
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Atalanta; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Alcione Milano asked and US Boulogne said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alcione Milano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A loan move for Tao Paradowski is in the works
Alcione Milano have made the call to Ibiza. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Hugo Constant knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alcione Milano, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Alcione Milano, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Simone Palombi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Monza: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniele Ciappellano, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Hugo Constant knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alcione Milano, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
25 appearances away from home and 8 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Market7 Jun 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Filippo Pirola signs something — a contract at Alcione Milano or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Open for business: Alcione Milano enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Alcione Milano than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 May 2027
Simone Palombi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Simone Giorgeschi is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout3 May 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout3 May 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad3 May 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout3 May 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Michele Marconi is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
Daniele Ciappellano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
“I watch every Alcione Milano game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Altamura runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Filippo Bertolotti is on it.
Market26 Apr 2027
The name of Kevin Bright keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Alcione Milano say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Emerick Lopes asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Match26 Apr 2027
Nothing left to play for but pride at Alcione Milano
40 points in position 9: too many to go down, too few to go anywhere. The honest description of a season like this is a shrug, and the supporters have already given it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
Sten Kremers and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Torino will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Lorenzo Carvalho has pre-agreed a move to Alcione Milano, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The decline has begun for Mirian Jikia
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Alcione Milano is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
“I watch every Alcione Milano game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Altamura runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market29 Mar 2027
Raúl Guerrero is 14, and Alcione Milano have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The formation has left Raúl Guerrero behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Alcione Milano will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Filippo Pirola’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Alcione Milano needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Jonathan Pitou knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alcione Milano, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Feb 2027
After 8 games, Alcione Milano finally taste it again
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Novara; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Match27 Feb 2027
Novara left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Simone Palombi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonathan Pitou, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
No place for Hugo Constant on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Alcione Milano pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A mistake Sten Kremers will not forget
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Alcione Milano, and 4 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Alcione Milano, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
$150.0K settles it between the clubs for Lorenzo Carvalho
Torino have accepted the money. What Alcione Milano do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Alcione Milano until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Sten Kremers and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cesena have kept their man, and Alcione Milano go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Alcione Milano will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match30 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luca Zamparo. 1‑0 against Carpi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
The afternoon belonged to Luca Zamparo
A mark of 7.98, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Altamura may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The medical room confirms 46 days on the sidelines for Fabrizio Alastra, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Altamura
Vinícius Peixoto and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match16 Jan 2027
Alessio Curcio scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Monopoli, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. All Boys have kept their man, and Altamura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Enrico Silletti
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Altamura have made the call to FCSB. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match2 Jan 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Luca Zamparo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Alcione Milano.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alcione Milano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Luca Zamparo
7.92, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Alcione Milano had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Alcione Milano, and 4 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Wisła Płock: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Universitatea Craiova have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Market4 Jan 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Emerick Lopes has his answer from Alcione Milano; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Alcione Milano's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Alcione Milano has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jonathan Pitou and Alcione Milano agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I did not go to Altamura to sit and watch. I want to come back to Alcione Milano and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
Match5 Dec 2026
Pergolettese left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Raffaele De Angelis left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Gabriele Candido and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Kevin Bright beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match4 Nov 2026
0‑3 against Udinese, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
0-3. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Match7 Nov 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Alcione Milano are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Sten Kremers and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Simone Palombi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonathan Pitou, and the manager let it.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Alcione Milano dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I watch every Alcione Milano game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Altamura runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Alcione Milano told Sten Kremers something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Hugo Constant damages knee ligaments — 30 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Altamura to sit and watch. I want to come back to Alcione Milano and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alcione Milano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
24 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market12 Oct 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Alcione Milano are still strangers to each other
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Emerick Lopes
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Filippo Bertolotti is on it.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Renate in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
Filippo Gallazzi damages knee ligaments — 18 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 18 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Arouca have kept their man, and Alcione Milano go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
53 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Sten Kremers and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Alcione Milano, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabio Morselli, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Altamura will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tobia Mogentale commits to Altamura for another 4 years.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Francesco Barbieri to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
Monopoli next, and one man in the Altamura dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Altamura would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.